Waterborne Pathogens in Poultry Farms : Contributing Factors and Control

Water is imperative to our existence in life. It is a vital nutrient, involved in many aspects of poultry metabolism. One of the major challenges of the 21th century is obtaining safe drinking water supply. In Europe and North America, an access to a clean and treated water supply may be the norm but in developing countries, access to both clean water and sanitation are not the rule, and waterborne infections are common. Water of low quality may affect layer production performance which indicated by decreased egg production and egg quality. Meanwhile in broiler the inferior quality water has detrimental effects on broiler performance and negatively correlated with body weight as well as immune resistance.